Nuts and Bolts: An Introduction to ERISA Welfare Plans

Drawing on more than 20 years of experience in employee benefits, Vanessa works with some of the nation’s leading companies, including global insurers, airlines and financial services organizations. She provides counsel on a broad range of issues, from comprehensive, company-wide benefit plans to the individual compensation arrangements that attract and retain key personnel. She also has significant experience advising large employers and insurance companies on ACA, HIPAA privacy, and retirement plan compliance issues. Additionally, Vanessa currently serves as Eversheds Sutherland (US)’s Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer.

Vanessa previously served as Legislative and Tax Counsel for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives where she specialized in financial services policy and legislation. Prior to joining Eversheds Sutherland (US), she was Legislative Counsel and Corporate Secretary for the ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) in Washington, D.C., where she represented the benefits and compensation interests of Fortune 100 employers before Congress, the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Labor.

Linda is of counsel in the Vorys Columbus office and a member of the labor and employment group. Her practice is concentrated in the area of employee benefits. Linda works with employers and multiemployer plans on health and welfare benefit plan issues, including employee communications, compliance with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), tax issues, and vendor contracting.

Linda is a Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel. She is also a member of the American Bar Association. Linda is a past chair of the Welfare Plan and EEOC Issues Subcommittee of the Tax Section of the ABA. She coordinated the ABA’s comments to the IRS on the employer shared responsibility penalties under Code ?4980H and has participated in ABA projects to provide comments to the IRS on other ACA regulations.

Linda has spoken on several topics, including ACA, HITECH, COBRA, reporting and disclosure and high deductible health plans/health savings accounts.

Linda received her J.D. with honors from The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law and her B.B.A. magna cum laude from Kent State University.

Jason Lacey practices primarily in the areas of income taxation, ERISA, employee benefits, and executive compensation. He assists both taxable and tax-exempt employers with a wide variety of employee benefit and executive compensation issues, including design and administration of welfare benefit plans and qualified and nonqualified pension, retirement savings, and deferred compensation plans. He also represents clients with respect to the tax and business aspects of entity formation, tax-advantaged exchanges and reorganizations, and tax controversies, and has significant practice experience in the areas of estate administration, estate and gift taxation, and the federal tax aspects of municipal finance transactions.

Jason has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America©, the Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers® Rising Star list, and Chambers USA as a leading business attorney in the United States. He was recognized by Best Lawyers® as the 2014, 2017, and 2020 Wichita Employee Benefits (ERISA) “Lawyer of the Year.”

Carolyn regularly advises public, private and non-profit employers on a range of employee benefits topics.

She designs and assists clients with the ongoing administration of tax-qualified retirement plans including defined benefit pension plans, 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, 457 deferred compensation plans, profit-sharing plans, and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). She routinely helps clients with health and welfare plan matters including plan design and COBRA and HIPAA related questions. She also works with employers to establish and maintain non-qualified, stock option and fringe benefit plans.

Specifically, Carolyn has assisted clients with restructuring retiree medical programs, merging and terminating employee benefit plans, evaluating executive compensation arrangements and negotiating vendor agreements and trust agreements. She often advises employers on employee benefits matters during mergers and acquisitions, including issues related to the compensation and benefits of transferred and terminated employees. She routinely obtains rulings and determinations from the IRS, the U.S. Department of Labor and other government agencies and guides clients through agency audits and the use of government-sponsored compliance and correction programs.

Carolyn also counsels employers and employee benefit plan committees on ERISA fiduciary obligations. She frequently publishes articles and speaks on a variety of employee benefits subjects.

In 2001, Carolyn completed the University of Notre Dame Law School's Concannon Program of International Law. While earning her undergraduate degree, Carolyn was a member of the Phi Alpha Theta honor society.